New Initiative Urges Youth to...B1
B1...This Fast I Choose
Sponsored and developed by The Advance, a division of the General Board of Global Ministries and the GNJ Conference Youth Ministry Team, the program, called simply "B1," is a twenty-four hour food fasting event that will engage youth in the Greater New Jersey Annual Conference in hunger issues during Lent. The program is being rolled out to a limited number of churches this winter with the intention of presenting it to the entire conference youth at next September's Youth Weekend.
Rachel Harvey, Mission Specialist at The Advance and designer of the program reveals that, "The name, B1, speaks not only to the vision driving this project but also to our connectional church. The Advance is very excited to partner with the GNJAC as a pilot for B1. In the future B1 will be available to churches nationally, enabling youth to choose their fast relative to the diversity of social issues reflected through the work of Advance projects."
B1 stands for "One being, being one". Similar to the South African concept of Ubuntu, B1 seeks to connect youth to the issues facing our sisters and brothers both in our immediate communities and around the world.
A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.
~Archbishop Desmond Tutu 1999
Isaiah 58: 6-8 will provide the youth with a Biblical focal point for their fasting.
Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen; to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter- when you see the naked to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn and your healing will quickly appear; your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and God will say: Here I am.
These verses call for the fast to be more than the giving up of our bread for twenty-four hours, but for our lives to be a fast from injustice, oppression and privilege. B1 is an introduction to a different way of life. A life where one being remembers her/his connection to all beings through their treatment of life and the resources available to them.
According to Rev. Chris Heckert, a clergy member of GNJAC and Assistant General Secretary for The Advance, "Through B1, youth will learn about hunger issues and a sampling of the ways the United Methodist Church has and continues to respond to the needs of our brothers and sisters in both love and justice. In this way, B1 is more than a fast, it?s training for our current and future church leaders in holistically caring for and understanding the concerns of members of our local, national and global church community."
Each youth group will choose a project from the following list, enabling the youth group to choose their fast based on their passion for the work of the project or region of the world it reaches. 100% of the money raised through B1 will reach its intended project through The Advance.
- United States of America - Society for St. Andrew Potato Project #801600
Since 1979, The Society for St. Andrew's Potato Project has worked with major potato growers and potato chip companies to save rejected loads of potatoes to feed the hungry across the US for the cost of packaging and freight (approximately a penny a serving). Fresh produce is also gleaned from fields by volunteers. Annually approximately 15 million pounds of food are provided through the Potato Project.
- Haiti - Restoring the Economic Backbone of Rural Haiti #418002
The restoring the economic backbone of rural Haiti project is improving health and economics through the reintroduction of the Creole pig. In the past, pigs have created income for local families. Each year 225 new hybrid pigs are distributed throughout the north, 40% of the pigs are given to women?s groups. Through a six-day training session, participants will gain skills in veterinary care for pigs and piglets, rearing and fattening of the pigs.
- Mexico - Give Ye Them To Eat #07629A
Founded in 1977 as a social outreach project of the Methodist Church in Mexico, Give Ye Them To Eat serves marginalized families in the rural sector of South Central Mexico. In addition to training opportunities offered to men, women and youth, Give Ye Them To Eat partners with Heifer International to carry out a national Livestock Development and Animal Distribution project.
- Chile - Center for Assistance to Needy Children #09751A
Since 1990 the Center for Assistance to Needy Children has opened its doors to children from the area with economic and emotional needs. For the 40 children who attend, the center provides a nutritious meal, medical attention and help with schoolwork. For the children, the center is like a tree, which offers shelter and protection as well as a place where they?re reminded of who they are.
- Ghana - Soybean Production to Feed the Hungry #120004
In the village of Hiawu-Besease hundreds of acres of land could be used for farming projects to improve the villager's diets but the emphasis is on planting income generating crops like cocoa. The soybean production to feed the hungry project works with ten women farming one acre of soybeans and vegetables as a community. The women are trained in planting, harvesting and producing many edible items from soybeans and vegetables that are nutritious and incoming generating.
- Global - Sustainable Agriculture #982188
The sustainable agriculture program provides training to farmers through farmer field schools, training of trainers and farmer-to-farmer exchange programs that teach techniques and the importance of farming that is environmentally and economically sustainable. Workshops in snail farming and bee keeping offer the farmers a variety of agricultural opportunities.
Upon reviewing the initial plans, Bishop Devadhar said, "I am very excited about what the B1 program represents. It is a wonderful opportunity to harness the enthusiasm and energy of our Greater New Jersey youth in a connectional effort. What they raise will go directly to people who need help and what they learn will stay with them forever."
Interested in hosting a B1 fasting event at your church???
Contact Ginny Kaiser at the GNJ Conference Office, 1001 Wickapecko Dr. Ocean, NJ 07712 or 732-359-1043 or gkaiser(at)gnjumc.org